Addressable assets in software development

ABSTRACT

A method for tracking game asset locations is disclosed. Content is created for an application using a first asset. The first asset includes asset data that describes at least a part of the content associated with the asset. The asset data is placed within one or more files within a location within one or more memories. A catalog associated with the application is created on the server. A catalog entry is created for the first asset. The catalog entry includes an address that uniquely identifies the first asset. A request is received from the application for asset data associated with the first asset, the request including the address. The address and the catalog are used to determine location data associated with the address. The determined location data is used to retrieve the asset data at the determined location. The retrieved asset data is returned to the application.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priorityunder 35 U.S.C. § 120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/411,616,filed on May 14, 2019, which claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/671,244 filed May 14, 2018, entitled “SYSTEM ANDMETHOD FOR ADDRESSABLE ASSETS IN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT,” each of which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to tools for use in managing the trackingof data for virtual assets in games and other applications.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the world of video game creation, there are many tools that guidecreators through the major processes of game creation, includingdesigning, building and deploying games. Many of the tools allow fornovice computer programmers (and non-computer programmers) to performsome of the steps within the processes. However, the deployment processis still quite difficult when it comes to the aspect of packaging andtracking data for digital assets (e.g., including characters, backgroundobjects, weapons, special effects, and the like) for a game or otherapplication. This is due in part to the large number of operatingsystems and devices that a game might have as deployment targets.

For example, operating systems and devices often have differentformatting requirements for using digital assets. Also, high qualitygames typically have a large number of virtual assets, which becomesproblematic for mobile games where device memory and download limits maybecome issues. Furthermore, most games evolve after they are firstreleased (e.g., adding different game modes or adding game levels) withnew virtual assets, making the tracking of virtual assets and theassociated data more and more complicated over time.

For a game developer, structuring digital assets for a game in a waythat allows efficient loading at game time is difficult. One solution isto divide the digital assets into chunks that are downloaded when needed(e.g., when an asset within a chunk is needed). A limitation when usingchunks of digital assets is the high level of expertise required from agame developer to understand and manage their complexity. Using a chunkof assets often involves writing code to build, load, unload, and managethe chunk and its dependencies. Incremental builds (e.g., only updatingthe chunk when a new asset is added to a game) do not work reliably,often forcing a rebuild of all assets within a chunk whenever an assetis updated, which results in a potentially huge time expense thatincreases proportional to the number of assets in the game. This cancause a refactoring of code as a game's complexity increases over time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features and advantages of example embodiments of the present disclosurewill become apparent from the following detailed description, taken incombination with the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustrating an addressable asset system, inaccordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustrating a development cycle using anaddressable asset system, in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a content creation process using an addressableasset system, in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a build process using an addressable assetsystem, in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a runtime process using an addressable assetsystem, in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example software architecture,which may be used in conjunction with various hardware architecturesdescribed herein; and

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine,according to some example embodiments, configured to read instructionsfrom a machine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium)and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like featuresare identified by like reference numerals.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description that follows describes example systems, methods,techniques, instruction sequences, and computing machine programproducts that comprise illustrative embodiments of the disclosure,individually or in combination. In the following description, for thepurposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide an understanding of various embodiments of theinventive subject matter. It will be evident, however, to those skilledin the art, that various embodiments of the inventive subject matter maybe practiced without these specific details.

There is described herein an Addressable Asset System which providesefficient runtime loading of digital assets for a game using an address.The Addressable Asset System handles asset management for a game andsimplifies content creation and deployment. In accordance with anembodiment, during the playing of a game (e.g., execution of game code),the Addressable Asset System allows the game code to simply query anaddress associated with a digital asset at runtime and receive datawhich describes the digital asset that resides at the address. Using theAddressable Asset System, a development studio can substantially improveiteration time on a project (e.g., development of a game), enabling thestudio to design, code, and test projects more often, resulting in ahigher quality game or application.

In example embodiments, a method for tracking game asset locations isdisclosed. Content is created for an application using a first asset.The first asset includes asset data that describes at least a part ofthe content associated with the asset. The asset data is placed withinone or more files within a location within one or more memories. Acatalog associated with the application is created on the server. Acatalog entry is created for the first asset. The catalog entry includesat least an address and location data, the address being a uniqueidentifier for the first asset and the location data being a descriptionof the location of the first asset. A request is received from theapplication for asset data associated with the first asset, the requestincluding the address. The address and the catalog are used to determinethe location data associated with the address. The determined locationdata is used to retrieve the asset data at the determined location. Theretrieved asset data is returned to the application.

The term ‘environment’ or ‘game environment’ used throughout thedescription herein is understood to include 2D digital environments(e.g., 2D video game environments, 2D simulation environments, and thelike), 3D digital environments (e.g., 3D game environments, 3Dsimulation environments, 3D content creation environment, virtualreality environments, and the like), and augmented reality environmentsthat include both a digital (e.g., virtual) component and a real-worldcomponent.

The term ‘game object’, used herein is understood to include any digitalobject or digital element within an environment (e.g., a gameenvironment). A game object can represent almost anything within theenvironment; including characters, weapons, scene elements (e.g.,buildings, trees, cars, treasures, and the like), backgrounds (e.g.,terrain, sky, and the like), lights, cameras, effects (e.g., sound andvisual), animation, and more. A game object is associated with data thatdefines properties and behavior for the object.

The terms ‘asset’, ‘game asset’, and ‘digital asset’, used herein areunderstood to include any data that can be used to describe a gameobject or can be used to describe an aspect of a game or project. Forexample, an asset can include data for an image, a 3D model (textures,rigging, and the like), a group of 3D models (e.g., an entire scene), anaudio sound, a video, animation, a 3D mesh and the like. The datadescribing an asset may be stored within a file, or may be containedwithin a collection of files, or may be compressed and stored in onefile (e.g., a compressed file), or may be stored within a memory. Thedata describing an asset can be used to instantiate one or more gameobjects within a game at runtime.

Throughout the description herein, the term ‘asset bundle’ refers to agrouping of data that describes one or more assets. The grouping of datacan be within a file or a group of files (e.g., a zip file) or within amemory. The data within an asset bundle is data which is stored externalto an executable game file and which is used by a game during runtime inorder to create or modify objects within the game. Two or more assetbundles can have dependencies between each other; e.g., an assetrepresenting a material in asset bundle ‘A’ can reference an assetrepresenting a texture in asset bundle ‘B’. Furthermore, during runtimeof the game, an asset bundle may be represented by a programming object(e.g., an object oriented programming object) that can be interactedwith via code (e.g., from within the executable game file) to load datadescribing an asset from a specific asset bundle into the game. Theasset bundle programming object can include a mapping of location (e.g.,a file path to a file within the asset bundle) to an object within agame.

Turning now to the drawings, systems and methods, including non-routineor unconventional components or operations, or combinations of suchcomponents or operations, for addressable assets, in accordance withembodiments of the invention are illustrated. In accordance with anembodiment, FIG. 1 shows an Addressable Asset System 100 for providingefficient runtime loading of assets by addresses. In the exampleembodiment, the Addressable Asset System 100 includes a developer device102 operated by a developer 130 (e.g., a game developer, artist, or thelike), a user device 162 operated by a user 160, and a content server140 coupled in networked communication via a network 150 (e.g., acellular network, a Wi-Fi network, the Internet, a wired local network,and the like). In some embodiments, the content server 140 may be acontent delivery network (CDN). The user device 162 is a computingdevice capable of providing a multimedia experience (e.g., a video game,a simulation, a virtual reality experience, an augmented realityexperience, and the like) to the user 160. In some embodiments, the userdevice 162 is a mobile computing device, such as a smartphone, tabletcomputer and head mounted display (HMD) such as virtual reality HMDs,augmented reality HMDs and mixed reality HMDs, and the like. In someembodiments, the user device 162 is a desktop computer or game console.The developer device 102 is a computing device capable of providing anintegrated development environment IDE or a game development platform(e.g., such as Unity™ game engine) to the developer 130. In someembodiments, the developer device 102 is a mobile computing device, suchas a smartphone, tablet computer and head mounted display (HMD) such asvirtual reality HMDs, augmented reality HMDs and mixed reality HMDs, andthe like. In some embodiments, the developer device 102 is a desktopcomputer.

In accordance with an embodiment, the content server 140 includes adatabase 142 and a server 144. The database 142 includes assets used byan application (e.g., a game) which resides on the user device 162.

In accordance with an embodiment, the developer device 102 includes oneor more central processing units 103 (CPUs), and graphics processingunits 105 (GPUs). The CPU 103 is any type of processor, processorassembly comprising multiple processing elements (not shown), havingaccess to a memory 101 to retrieve instructions stored thereon, andexecute such instructions. Upon execution of such instructions, theinstructions implement the developer device 102 to perform a series oftasks as described herein. The memory 101 can be any type of memorydevice, such as random access memory, read only or rewritable memory,internal processor caches, and the like.

The developer device 102 also includes one or more input/output devices108 such as, for example, a keyboard or keypad, mouse, pointing device,and touchscreen. The developer device 102 further includes one or moredisplay devices 109, such as a computer monitor, a touchscreen, and ahead mounted display, which may be configured to display digital contentincluding video, a video game environment, an integrated developmentenvironment and a virtual simulation environment to the developer 130.The display device 109 is driven or controlled by the one or more GPUs105 and optionally the CPU 103. The GPU 105 processes aspects ofgraphical output that assists in speeding up rendering of output throughthe display device 109. The developer device 102 also includes one ormore networking devices 107 (e.g., wired or wireless network adapters)for communicating across the network 150.

The memory 101 in the developer device 102 can be configured to store anapplication 114 (e.g., an integrated development environment IDE) whichincludes a game engine 104 (e.g., executed by the CPU 103 or GPU 105)that communicates with the display device 109 and also with otherhardware such as the input device(s) 108 to present the application tothe developer 130. The game engine 104 would typically include one ormore modules that provide the following: animation physics for gameobjects, collision detection for game objects, rendering, networking,sound, animation, and the like in order to provide the user with anapplication environment (e.g., video game or simulation environment).The application 114 includes an addressable asset module 116 thatprovides various Addressable Asset System 100 functionality as describedherein. The application 114 includes a build manager 118 and a resourcemanager 120. Each of the game engine 104, the application 114, the buildmanager 118, the resource manager 120 and the addressable asset module116 includes computer-executable instructions residing in the memory 101that are executed by the CPU 103 and optionally with the GPU 105 duringoperation. The game engine 104 includes computer-executable instructionsresiding in the memory 101 that are executed by the CPU 103 andoptionally with the GPU 105 during operation in order to create aruntime program such as a game engine. The application 114 includescomputer-executable instructions residing in the memory 101 that areexecuted by the CPU 103 and optionally with the GPU 105 during operationin order to create a runtime application program such as an IDE. Theaddressable asset module 116, the build manger 118 and the resourcemanager 120 may be integrated directly within the game engine 104, orwithin the application 114, or may be implemented as external pieces ofsoftware (e.g., plugins).

In accordance with an embodiment, the user device 162 includes one ormore central processing units 163 (e.g., similar to the CPU 103 in thedeveloper device 102), and graphics processing units 165 (e.g., similarto the GPU 105 in the developer device 102). The CPU 163 is any type ofprocessor, processor assembly comprising multiple processing elements(not shown), having access to a memory 161 to retrieve instructionsstored thereon, and execute such instructions. Upon execution of suchinstructions, the instructions implement the user device 162 to performa series of tasks as described herein. The memory 161 can be any type ofmemory device similar to the memory 101 on the developer device 102.

The user device 162 also includes one or more input/output devices 168similar to the input/output device 108 on the developer device 102. Theuser device 162 further includes one or more display devices 169,similar to the display device 109 on the developer device 102, which maybe configured to display digital content including video, a video gameenvironment, and a virtual simulation environment to the user 160. Thedisplay device 169 is driven or controlled by the one or more GPUs 165and optionally the CPU 163. The GPU 165 processes aspects of graphicaloutput that assists in speeding up rendering of output through thedisplay device 169. The user device 162 also includes one or morenetworking devices 167 (e.g., wired or wireless network adapters) forcommunicating across the network 150.

In accordance with an embodiment, the memory 161 in the user device 162can be configured to store an application 174 (e.g., a video game, asimulation, a virtual reality experience, an augmented realityexperience) which includes a game engine 164 (e.g., executed by the CPU163 or GPU 165) that communicates with the display device 169 and alsowith other hardware such as the input device (s) 168 to present anapplication to the user 160. The game engine 164 is similar to the gameengine 104 on the developer device 102. The application 174 includes anaddressable asset module 166 that provides various Addressable AssetSystem 100 functionality as described herein. The application 174includes a resource manager 170. Each of the game engine 164, theapplication 174, the resource manager 170 and the addressable assetmodule 166 includes computer-executable instructions residing in thememory 161 that are executed by the CPU 163 and optionally with the GPU165 during operation. The game engine 164 includes computer-executableinstructions residing in the memory 161 that are executed by the CPU 163and optionally with the GPU 165 during operation in order to create aruntime program such as a game engine. The application 174 includescomputer-executable instructions residing in the memory 161 that areexecuted by the CPU 163 and optionally with the GPU 165 during operationin order to create a runtime application program such as a video game orsimulator. The addressable asset module 166 and the resource manager 170may be integrated directly within the game engine 164, or within theapplication 174, or may be implemented as external pieces of software(e.g., plugins).

In accordance with an embodiment and shown in FIG. 2 is an applicationdevelopment cycle 205 for creating an application using the AddressableAsset System 100. A first process in the cycle 205 is applicationcontent creation 200 wherein the developer 130 uses the developer device102 to create content for an application (e.g., a video game, a virtualreality experience, a movie, a simulation, or the like). For example,the developer 130 could use the application 114, and the game engine 104therein, to create the content by creating a 3D scene using game objectsand assigning properties and behaviors to the game objects. A secondprocess in the cycle 205 is an application build 202, wherein astandalone executable application is created which is capable of runningon an operating system (e.g., including Microsoft Windows™ operatingsystems, Apple™ operating systems, Linux operating systems, Android™operating systems and the like). The executable application can includean executable file and any other data files (e.g., resource files) theexecutable file might need. When building standalone executableapplications, the resulting files will vary depending on the buildtarget operating system. For example, files within the executableapplication may be different for each operating system. A third processin the cycle 205 is a runtime process 204 wherein the executableapplication runs (e.g., executes) on a user device 162 and presents theapplication (e.g., the game, virtual reality experience, movie,simulation or the like) to the user 160.

In accordance with an embodiment and shown in FIG. 3 are operations ofthe application content creation process 200 from the applicationdevelopment cycle 205. At operation 300, the developer 130 createscontent for an application, using one or more assets. As part of thecreation process, the developer 130 can import assets for theapplication, and can create assets for the application. Creating contentincludes creating game objects (e.g., characters and scenery), gamelevels and more. At operation 302, the game engine 104 generates aunique identification (or unique ID) for each asset (e.g., includingnumeric, alpha, alphanumeric or any type of string identification). Theunique ID is a permanent unique identifier that identifies one asset.Data that defines an asset is stored in one or more files. At operation304, using the Addressable Asset System 100, the developer 130 indicatesthat an asset is to be addressable (e.g., via a graphical user interfacegenerated by the module 116 or via code and an Application Interface(API) provided by the module 116). In accordance with an embodiment, anaddressable asset has an associated name (e.g., a string label) for easyidentification and referencing of the addressable asset. In someembodiments, a label may be shared by a group of addressable assets. Thelabel for the addressable asset provides a secondary identifier whichcan be used for runtime loading of a plurality of similar assets. Forexample, a game may include several types of space hazards and which arelabeled ‘spaceHazards’ and which can all be accessed with a singlecommand that uses the label as input (e.g. LoadAll(“spaceHazards”)). Atoperation 306, the addressable asset module 116 provides an address forthe asset and associates the address with a location for the asset data(e.g., a file path name). In accordance with an embodiment, the locationincludes physical locations such as a content server 140 (e.g., acontent delivery network), remote servers and local data storage (e.g.,a local hard drive on the developer device 102). The address identifiesthe asset for efficient retrieval at runtime (e.g., when the game isbeing played). In accordance with an embodiment, the asset address isinitialized to a string value of a file path location of a filecontaining data for the asset. At operation 308, the addressable assetmodule 116 tracks a location of the asset data (e.g., by tracking thefile or files that contain the data) as the data is moved (e.g., by thedeveloper).

In accordance with an embodiment and shown in FIG. 4 is a build process202 using an Addressable Asset System 100. At operation 400 of the buildprocess 202, the addressable asset module 116 receives data describingan addressable asset group (e.g., a list of addressable assets) to bepackaged into an asset bundle. For example, the developer 130 may createthe addressable asset group using a user interface provided by themodule 116 or the game engine 114. At operation 402, the build manager118 receives a request for a build of the application. The requestincludes profile data (e.g., created by the developer) that includessettings for a build of the asset bundle (e.g., a build including apackaged version of the asset bundle ready for use by an executableapplication). As part of operation 402 of the build process 202, thedeveloper may make the request and create the profile (e.g., via agraphical user interface). At operation 404 of the build process 202,for each asset in the addressable asset group, the addressable assetmodule 116 searches for the most current location of the asset files(e.g., the most current file path). At operation 406 of the buildprocess 202, the addressable asset module 116 creates a content catalogfor the application which includes one or more asset bundles associatedwith the application. The content catalog includes a list of assetaddresses wherein each asset in the one or more asset bundles isassociated with at least one asset address entry in the list. Inaccordance with an embodiment, for each asset address entry on the list,there is provided data for the location of the files describing theasset. The content catalog provides a mapping between an asset addressand at least one location containing data describing the assetassociated with the asset address. Each content catalog is associatedwith an executable application (e.g., the executable application cancontain data pointing to the content catalog to which it is associated).The content catalog can also include instructions for loading the datadescribing the asset into the application. At operation 408 of buildprocess 202, the addressable asset module 116 packs assets from theaddressable asset group, with their dependencies, into an asset bundleaccording to the settings in the request. The addressable asset module116 understands complex asset dependency chains and packs bundlesefficiently, even when assets are moved or renamed (e.g., due to thefact that the assets are tracked by the addressable asset module 116).In accordance with an embodiment, as part of operation 408, theaddressable asset module 116 separates duplicate assets and places themin a separate bundle for cleaner loading at runtime. A duplicate assetis a single asset which is a dependency for two or more assets. Inaccordance with an embodiment, the addressable asset module 116prioritizes a subset of assets to be included in an asset bundle (e.g.,including assets for a user interface menu, a game or applicationtutorial, and first-level game content). As part of operation 408, theaddressable asset module 116 can split content builds based on a maximumsize limit denoted in the profile. For example, the addressable assetsystem 100 can be configured to limit a size of a built application(e.g., 100 MB) and funnel remaining assets into asset bundles asdownloadable content in order to optimize the packaging of content for agame or application, reducing the downloading of data to a device over anetwork and reducing the loading of the data into memory.

In accordance with an embodiment, and shown in FIG. 5, is the runtimemode 204 of the development cycle 205, whereby the application isdownloaded and executed on the user device 162 in order to present theuser 160 with a runtime version of the application. During runtime ofthe application, the addressable asset module 166 within the application174 loads assets from the asset bundle into memory 161 on the userdevice 162 (e.g., for use by the application). The Addressable AssetSystem 100, using the mapping within the content catalog, allows loadingof one or more addressable assets (e.g., an entire scene of assets) byname (e.g., the label or the address) at runtime, regardless of whichasset bundle the one or more assets are in or where the asset bundle islocated (e.g., on a remote device over a network or on a local device)or whether the addressable asset has been moved by the developer.Changes in asset location are tracked and updated in real-time in thecontent catalog (e.g., by the addressable asset module 116 in operation308 and operation 406), so the addressable asset module 166 alwaysincludes a current location of an addressable asset. Specifying an assetby address empowers developers create applications that load assets atruntime without the developer needing to write specific code to directlytrack the location of data for the asset on a disk, or a server, or acontent delivery network (CDN).

In accordance with an embodiment, and in reference to FIG. 5, atoperation 500 of the runtime mode 204, the application runs (e.g., isexecuted) on the user device 162. For example, the application may beexecuted by a user operating the user device 162 (e.g., in order to playa game via a runtime version of the application 174). In accordance withan embodiment, at operation 502 of the runtime mode 204, the application174 (while executing) requires an asset from within an asset bundle. Theexecuting application determines the address for the required asset andsends a request that includes the address to the addressable assetmodule 166. The request includes the address and a request for dataassociated with the required asset (e.g., asset data within the assetfiles). In accordance with an embodiment, at operation 504 of theruntime mode 204, the addressable asset module 166 communicates over thenetwork 150 with (e.g., sends a request) the content catalog on thecontent server 140 to determine a current location for the dataassociated with the address. In accordance with an embodiment, atoperation 506 of the runtime mode 204, the addressable asset module 166asynchronously downloads the required asset data from the currentlocation received from the content catalog.

In accordance with an embodiment, the addressable asset system 100includes dependency management whereby the content catalog includesdependency information for each address entry within the catalog.Accordingly, at runtime as part of operation 504 and operation 506, theaddressable asset module 116 receives data associated with dependentassets for any requested address (e.g., without specifying the locationof the dependencies). For example, the application 174 can request anasset only by its address or label and it will receive data regardingits dependent assets.

In accordance with an embodiment, with the asynchronous loading withinoperation 506, the requested assets and the dependencies of therequested assets can reside anywhere (locally, remote server or CDN) forloading in any order (e.g., as opposed to synchronous loading, whereby alocal asset with dependencies would require the dependencies to be localand would also require that they be loaded directly following the assetload). By using asynchronous downloading and loading into memory for useby the executing application, the Addressable Asset System 100 givesusers the flexibility to move assets (e.g., from a local build group toa remote build group) without changing code within the application 174.Asynchronous Loading combined with addresses allows for the decouplingof the unique asset identifier (e.g., created in operation 302) from thelocation, packaging, and loading in order to allow these aspects tochange during the development cycle 205 and adapt to deployment needs.More specifically, it allows a location of an asset (e.g. local, remote,generated, etc.) to change throughout the course of the developmentcycle 205 of an application without requiring a change in code (e.g.,within the application) to reference the asset. Without the AddressableAssets System 100, the developer would have to change application code(e.g., to handle the additional asset loading logic) when moving anasset from a local to a remote build group. The Addressable Asset System100, allows end-users to re-download as little data as possible as anapplication 174 is being updated by a developer. The Addressable AssetSystem 100 allows support for an easy migration process starting from anearly prototype with a simple content layout to a shippable product witha more complex content layout that can span local data, multipleservers, and various platforms.

In accordance with an embodiment, as part of the runtime mode 204, atoperation 520, the developer updates one or more assets for theapplication 174. The change may include a change of location of theasset by moving the asset to a different asset bundle (e.g., within thebuild process 202) talk about the build process happening many timesover or changing the physical location of asset bundle files (after thebuild process 202). In accordance with an embodiment, at operation 522,the addressable asset module 116 updates the content catalog inreal-time as the developer makes changes (e.g., at operation 520). Thenew location information for a changed asset is recorded in the contentcatalog in association with the address for the asset.

In accordance with an embodiment, the Addressable Asset System 100 usesreference counting and automatic unloading of assets loaded from assetbundles when they are no longer needed by the application 174.

It should be noted that the present disclosure can be carried out as amethod, can be embodied in a system, a computer readable medium or anelectrical or electro-magnetic signal. The embodiments described aboveand illustrated in the accompanying drawings are intended to beexemplary only. It will be evident to those skilled in the art thatmodifications may be made without departing from this disclosure. Suchmodifications are considered as possible variants and lie within thescope of the disclosure.

Certain embodiments are described herein as including logic or a numberof components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules may constitute eithersoftware modules (e.g., code embodied on a machine-readable medium or ina transmission signal) or hardware modules. A “hardware module” is atangible unit capable of performing certain operations and may beconfigured or arranged in a certain physical manner. In various exampleembodiments, one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone computersystem, a client computer system, or a server computer system) or one ormore hardware modules of a computer system (e.g., a processor or a groupof processors) may be configured by software (e.g., an application orapplication portion) as a hardware module that operates to performcertain operations as described herein.

In some embodiments, a hardware module may be implemented mechanically,electronically, or with any suitable combination thereof. For example, ahardware module may include dedicated circuitry or logic that ispermanently configured to perform certain operations. For example, ahardware module may be a special-purpose processor, such as afield-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC). A hardware module may also includeprogrammable logic or circuitry that is temporarily configured bysoftware to perform certain operations. For example, a hardware modulemay include software encompassed within a general-purpose processor orother programmable processor. It will be appreciated that the decisionto implement a hardware module mechanically, in dedicated andpermanently configured circuitry, or in temporarily configured circuitry(e.g., configured by software) may be driven by cost and timeconsiderations.

Accordingly, the phrase “hardware module” should be understood toencompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physicallyconstructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarilyconfigured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or toperform certain operations described herein. As used herein,“hardware-implemented module” refers to a hardware module. Consideringembodiments in which hardware modules are temporarily configured (e.g.,programmed), each of the hardware modules need not be configured orinstantiated at any one instance in time. For example, where a hardwaremodule comprises a general-purpose processor configured by software tobecome a special-purpose processor, the general-purpose processor may beconfigured as respectively different special-purpose processors (e.g.,comprising different hardware modules) at different times. Software mayaccordingly configure a particular special-purpose processor orprocessors, for example, to constitute a particular hardware module atone instance of time and to constitute a different hardware module at adifferent instance of time.

Hardware modules can provide information to, and receive informationfrom, other hardware modules. Accordingly, the described hardwaremodules may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Where multiplehardware modules exist contemporaneously, communications may be achievedthrough signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuits and buses)between or among two or more of the hardware modules. In embodiments inwhich multiple hardware modules are configured or instantiated atdifferent times, communications between such hardware modules may beachieved, for example, through the storage and retrieval of informationin memory structures to which the multiple hardware modules have access.For example, one hardware module may perform an operation and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware module may then, at a latertime, access the memory device to retrieve and process the storedoutput. Hardware modules may also initiate communications with input oroutput devices, and can operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions describedherein. As used herein, “processor-implemented module” refers to ahardware module implemented using one or more processors.

Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented, with a particular processor or processors beingan example of hardware. For example, at least some of the operations ofa method may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented modules. Moreover, the one or more processors mayalso operate to support performance of the relevant operations in a“cloud computing” environment or as a “software as a service” (SaaS).For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a groupof computers (as examples of machines including processors), with theseoperations being accessible via a network (e.g., the Internet) and viaone or more appropriate interfaces (e.g., an application programinterface (API)).

The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed amongthe processors, not only residing within a single machine, but deployedacross a number of machines. In some example embodiments, the processorsor processor-implemented modules may be located in a single geographiclocation (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment, or aserver farm). In other example embodiments, the processors orprocessor-implemented modules may be distributed across a number ofgeographic locations.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram 700 illustrating an example softwarearchitecture 702, which may be used in conjunction with various hardwarearchitectures herein described to provide a gaming engine 701 and/orcomponents of the addressable asset system 100. FIG. 6 is a non-limitingexample of a software architecture and it will be appreciated that manyother architectures may be implemented to facilitate the functionalitydescribed herein. The software architecture 702 may execute on hardwaresuch as a machine 800 of FIG. 7 that includes, among other things,processors 810, memory 830, and input/output (I/O) components 850. Arepresentative hardware layer 704 is illustrated and can represent, forexample, the machine 800 of FIG. 7. The representative hardware layer704 includes a processing unit 706 having associated executableinstructions 708. The executable instructions 708 represent theexecutable instructions of the software architecture 702, includingimplementation of the methods, modules and so forth described herein.The hardware layer 704 also includes memory/storage 710, which alsoincludes the executable instructions 708. The hardware layer 704 mayalso comprise other hardware 712.

In the example architecture of FIG. 6, the software architecture 702 maybe conceptualized as a stack of layers where each layer providesparticular functionality. For example, the software architecture 702 mayinclude layers such as an operating system 714, libraries 716,frameworks or middleware 718, applications 720 and a presentation layer744. Operationally, the applications 720 and/or other components withinthe layers may invoke application programming interface (API) calls 724through the software stack and receive a response as messages 726. Thelayers illustrated are representative in nature and not all softwarearchitectures have all layers. For example, some mobile or specialpurpose operating systems may not provide the frameworks/middleware 718,while others may provide such a layer. Other software architectures mayinclude additional or different layers.

The operating system 714 may manage hardware resources and providecommon services. The operating system 714 may include, for example, akernel 728, services 730, and drivers 732. The kernel 728 may act as anabstraction layer between the hardware and the other software layers.For example, the kernel 728 may be responsible for memory management,processor management (e.g., scheduling), component management,networking, security settings, and so on. The services 730 may provideother common services for the other software layers. The drivers 732 maybe responsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlyinghardware. For instance, the drivers 732 may include display drivers,camera drivers, Bluetooth® drivers, flash memory drivers, serialcommunication drivers (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) drivers), Wi-Fi®drivers, audio drivers, power management drivers, and so forth dependingon the hardware configuration.

The libraries 716 may provide a common infrastructure that may be usedby the applications 720 and/or other components and/or layers. Thelibraries 716 typically provide functionality that allows other softwaremodules to perform tasks in an easier fashion than to interface directlywith the underlying operating system 714 functionality (e.g., kernel728, services 730 and/or drivers 732). The libraries 816 may includesystem libraries 734 (e.g., C standard library) that may providefunctions such as memory allocation functions, string manipulationfunctions, mathematic functions, and the like. In addition, thelibraries 716 may include API libraries 736 such as media libraries(e.g., libraries to support presentation and manipulation of variousmedia format such as MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG), graphicslibraries (e.g., an OpenGL framework that may be used to render 2D and3D graphic content on a display), database libraries (e.g., SQLite thatmay provide various relational database functions), web libraries (e.g.,WebKit that may provide web browsing functionality), and the like. Thelibraries 716 may also include a wide variety of other libraries 738 toprovide many other APIs to the applications 720 and other softwarecomponents/modules.

The frameworks 718 (also sometimes referred to as middleware) provide ahigher-level common infrastructure that may be used by the applications720 and/or other software components/modules. For example, theframeworks/middleware 718 may provide various graphic user interface(GUI) functions, high-level resource management, high-level locationservices, and so forth. The frameworks/middleware 718 may provide abroad spectrum of other APIs that may be utilized by the applications720 and/or other software components/modules, some of which may bespecific to a particular operating system or platform.

The applications 720 include built-in applications 740 and/orthird-party applications 742. Examples of representative built-inapplications 740 may include, but are not limited to, a contactsapplication, a browser application, a book reader application, alocation application, a media application, a messaging application,and/or a game application. Third-party applications 742 may include anyan application developed using the Android™ or iOS™ software developmentkit (SDK) by an entity other than the vendor of the particular platform,and may be mobile software running on a mobile operating system such asiOS™, Android™, Windows® Phone, or other mobile operating systems. Thethird-party applications 742 may invoke the API calls 724 provided bythe mobile operating system such as operating system 714 to facilitatefunctionality described herein.

The applications 720 may use built-in operating system functions (e.g.,kernel 728, services 730 and/or drivers 732), libraries 716, orframeworks/middleware 718 to create user interfaces to interact withusers of the system. Alternatively, or additionally, in some systems,interactions with a user may occur through a presentation layer, such asthe presentation layer 744. In these systems, the application/module“logic” can be separated from the aspects of the application/module thatinteract with a user.

Some software architectures use virtual machines. In the example of FIG.6, this is illustrated by a virtual machine 748. The virtual machine 748creates a software environment where applications/modules can execute asif they were executing on a hardware machine (such as the machine 800 ofFIG. 7, for example). The virtual machine 748 is hosted by a hostoperating system (e.g., operating system 714) and typically, althoughnot always, has a virtual machine monitor 746, which manages theoperation of the virtual machine 748 as well as the interface with thehost operating system (i.e., operating system 714). A softwarearchitecture executes within the virtual machine 748 such as anoperating system (OS) 750, libraries 752, frameworks 754, applications756, and/or a presentation layer 758. These layers of softwarearchitecture executing within the virtual machine 748 can be the same ascorresponding layers previously described or may be different.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine 800,according to some example embodiments, configured to read instructionsfrom a machine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium)and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Insome embodiments, the machine 800 is similar to the developer device 102and the user device 162. Specifically, FIG. 7 shows a diagrammaticrepresentation of the machine 800 in the example form of a computersystem, within which instructions 816 (e.g., software, a program, anapplication, an applet, an app, or other executable code) for causingthe machine 800 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein may be executed. As such, the instructions 816 may beused to implement modules or components described herein. Theinstructions transform the general, non-programmed machine into aparticular machine programmed to carry out the described and illustratedfunctions in the manner described. In alternative embodiments, themachine 800 operates as a standalone device or may be coupled (e.g.,networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine 800may operate in the capacity of a server machine or a client machine in aserver-client network environment, or as a peer machine in apeer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine 800 maycomprise, but not be limited to, a server computer, a client computer, apersonal computer (PC), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook,a set-top box (STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), anentertainment media system, a cellular telephone, a smart phone, amobile device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch), a smart homedevice (e.g., a smart appliance), other smart devices, a web appliance,a network router, a network switch, a network bridge, or any machinecapable of executing the instructions 816, sequentially or otherwise,that specify actions to be taken by the machine 800. Further, while onlya single machine 800 is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also betaken to include a collection of machines that individually or jointlyexecute the instructions 816 to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein.

The machine 800 may include processors 810, memory 830, and input/output(I/O) components 850, which may be configured to communicate with eachother such as via a bus 802. In an example embodiment, the processors810 (e.g., a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Reduced Instruction SetComputing (RISC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC)processor, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a Digital Signal Processor(DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), aRadio-Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC), another processor, or anysuitable combination thereof) may include, for example, a processor 812and a processor 814 that may execute the instructions 816. The term“processor” is intended to include multi-core processor that maycomprise two or more independent processors (sometimes referred to as“cores”) that may execute instructions contemporaneously. Although FIG.7 shows multiple processors, the machine 800 may include a singleprocessor with a single core, a single processor with multiple cores(e.g., a multi-core processor), multiple processors with a single core,multiple processors with multiples cores, or any combination thereof.

The memory/storage 830 may include a memory, such as a main memory 832,a static memory 834, or other memory, and a storage unit 836, bothaccessible to the processors 810 such as via the bus 802. The storageunit 836 and memory 832, 834 store the instructions 816 embodying anyone or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. Theinstructions 816 may also reside, completely or partially, within thememory 832, 834, within the storage unit 836, within at least one of theprocessors 810 (e.g., within the processor's cache memory), or anysuitable combination thereof, during execution thereof by the machine800. Accordingly, the memory 832, 834, the storage unit 836, and thememory of processors 810 are examples of machine-readable media 838.

As used herein, “machine-readable medium” means a device able to storeinstructions and data temporarily or permanently and may include, but isnot limited to, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM),buffer memory, flash memory, optical media, magnetic media, cachememory, other types of storage (e.g., Erasable Programmable Read-OnlyMemory (EEPROM)) and/or any suitable combination thereof. The term“machine-readable medium” should be taken to include a single medium ormultiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, orassociated caches and servers) able to store the instructions 816. Theterm “machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include anymedium, or combination of multiple media, that is capable of storinginstructions (e.g., instructions 816) for execution by a machine (e.g.,machine 800), such that the instructions, when executed by one or moreprocessors of the machine 800 (e.g., processors 310), cause the machine800 to perform any one or more of the methodologies described herein.Accordingly, a “machine-readable medium” refers to a single storageapparatus or device, as well as “cloud-based” storage systems or storagenetworks that include multiple storage apparatus or devices. The term“machine-readable medium” excludes signals per se.

The input/output (I/O) components 850 may include a wide variety ofcomponents to receive input, provide output, produce output, transmitinformation, exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. Thespecific input/output (I/O) components 850 that are included in aparticular machine will depend on the type of machine. For example,portable machines such as mobile phones will likely include a touchinput device or other such input mechanisms, while a headless servermachine will likely not include such a touch input device. It will beappreciated that the input/output (I/O) components 850 may include manyother components that are not shown in FIG. 1. The input/output (I/O)components 850 are grouped according to functionality merely forsimplifying the following discussion and the grouping is in no waylimiting. In various example embodiments, the input/output (I/O)components 850 may include output components 852 and input components854. The output components 852 may include visual components (e.g., adisplay such as a plasma display panel (PDP), a light emitting diode(LED) display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a projector, or a cathoderay tube (CRT)), acoustic components (e.g., speakers), haptic components(e.g., a vibratory motor, resistance mechanisms), other signalgenerators, and so forth. The input components 854 may includealphanumeric input components (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screenconfigured to receive alphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, orother alphanumeric input components), point based input components(e.g., a mouse, a touchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, oranother pointing instrument), tactile input components (e.g., a physicalbutton, a touch screen that provides location and/or force of touches ortouch gestures, or other tactile input components), audio inputcomponents (e.g., a microphone), and the like.

In further example embodiments, the input/output (I/O) components 850may include biometric components 856, motion components 858,environmental components 860, or position components 862, among a widearray of other components. For example, the biometric components 856 mayinclude components to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facialexpressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measurebiosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature,perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person (e.g., voiceidentification, retinal identification, facial identification,fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogram basedidentification), and the like. The motion components 858 may includeacceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensorcomponents, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth.The environmental components 860 may include, for example, illuminationsensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components(e.g., one or more thermometers that detect ambient temperature),humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g.,barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphonesthat detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g.,infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensors (e.g., gasdetection sensors to detection concentrations of hazardous gases forsafety or to measure pollutants in the atmosphere), or other componentsthat may provide indications, measurements, or signals corresponding toa surrounding physical environment. The position components 862 mayinclude location sensor components (e.g., a Global Position System (GPS)receiver component), altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters orbarometers that detect air pressure from which altitude may be derived),orientation sensor components (e.g., magnetometers), and the like.

Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The input/output (I/O) components 850 may include communicationcomponents 864 operable to couple the machine 800 to a network 880 ordevices 870 via a coupling 882 and a coupling 872 respectively. Forexample, the communication components 864 may include a networkinterface component or other suitable device to interface with thenetwork 880. In further examples, the communication components 864 mayinclude wired communication components, wireless communicationcomponents, cellular communication components, Near Field Communication(NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy),Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components to providecommunication via other modalities. The devices 870 may be anothermachine or any of a wide variety of peripheral devices (e.g., aperipheral device coupled via a Universal Serial Bus (USB)).

Moreover, the communication components 864 may detect identifiers orinclude components operable to detect identifiers. For example, thecommunication components 864 may include Radio Frequency Identification(RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detection components,optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detectone-dimensional bar codes such as Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code,multi-dimensional bar codes such as Quick Response (QR) code, Azteccode, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code, UCC RSS-2Dbar code, and other optical codes), or acoustic detection components(e.g., microphones to identify tagged audio signals). In addition, avariety of information may be derived via the communication components862, such as, location via Internet Protocol (IP) geo-location, locationvia Wi-Fi® signal triangulation, location via detecting a NFC beaconsignal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth.

Throughout this specification, plural instances may implementcomponents, operations, or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that theoperations be performed in the order illustrated. Structures andfunctionality presented as separate components in example configurationsmay be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly,structures and functionality presented as a single component may beimplemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fail within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

The embodiments illustrated herein are described in sufficient detail toenable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed.Other embodiments may be used and derived therefrom, such thatstructural and logical substitutions and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of this disclosure. The Detailed Description,therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope ofvarious embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along withthe full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

As used herein, the term “or” may be construed in either an inclusive orexclusive sense. Moreover, plural instances may be provided forresources, operations, or structures described herein as a singleinstance. Additionally, boundaries between various resources,operations, modules, engines, and data stores are somewhat arbitrary,and particular operations are illustrated in a context of specificillustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality areenvisioned and may fall within a scope of various embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In general, structures and functionality presentedas separate resources in the example configurations may be implementedas a combined structure or resource. Similarly, structures andfunctionality presented as a single resource may be implemented asseparate resources. These and other variations, modifications,additions, and improvements fall within the scope of embodiments of thepresent disclosure as represented by the appended claims. Thespecification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than restrictive sense.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a device that includesone or more memories and one or more computer processors, the one ormore memories including a set of instructions, the set of instructionsconfiguring the one or more computer processors to perform operationscomprising: creating a catalog entry within a catalog for a first asset,the catalog entry including at least an address and location data, theaddress being a unique identifier for the first asset and the locationdata being a description of a location of the first asset; receiving arequest from an application for asset data associated with the firstasset, the request including the address; using the address and thecatalog entry to determine the location data associated with theaddress; using the determined location data to retrieve the asset dataat the determined location; and returning the retrieved asset data tothe application.
 2. The claim of system 1, wherein the addressable assetmodule further configures the one or more computer processors to buildan executable version of the application, the executable versionincluding data that provides a link to the catalog.
 3. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the first asset depends on additional data from asecond asset and whereby the addressable asset module further configuresthe one or more computer processors to perform operations comprising:storing the additional data within one or more files within a locationwithin the one or more memories or an additional memory; adding anadditional address for the second asset to the catalog entry associatedwith the first asset; and adding data describing the location of theadditional data to the entry associated with the first asset.
 4. Thesystem of claim 3, wherein retrieving the asset data for the first assetincludes detecting the dependence on the second asset, and wherein theoperations further comprise: using the additional address and thecatalog to determine the location of the additional data; using thedetermined location to retrieve the additional data; and returning theretrieved additional data to the executing application.
 5. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the developer device is communicatively coupled to aserver, wherein the server includes the catalog, the operations furthercomprising: sending the request to the server; and receiving a responsefrom the server that includes either a location for the requested dataor the data itself.
 6. The system of claim 1, the operations furthercomprising: receiving the asset data for the first asset, the asset datadescribing associated digital content within the application; andstoring the asset data within one or more files within a location withinthe one or more memories or an additional memory.
 7. The system of claim6, wherein the storing of the asset includes creating an asset bundlefor an executable version of the application, the asset bundle includinga plurality of assets and associated asset data.
 8. The system of claim6, wherein the operations further include: detecting a change inlocation of the one or more files from the location to a secondlocation; and configuring the one or more computer processors to modifythe location data within the catalog entry with data describing thesecond location.
 9. A method comprising: creating a catalog entry withina catalog for a first asset, the catalog entry including at least anaddress and location data, the address being a unique identifier for thefirst asset and the location data being a description of a location ofthe first asset; receiving a request from an application for asset dataassociated with the first asset, the request including the address;using the address and the catalog entry to determine the location dataassociated with the address; using the determined location data toretrieve the asset data at the determined location; and returning theretrieved asset data to the application.
 10. The method of claim 9,wherein the first asset depends on additional data from a second assetand whereby the addressable asset module further configures the one ormore computer processors to perform operations comprising: storing theadditional data within one or more files within a location within one ormore memories; adding an additional unique address for the second assetto the catalog entry associated with the first asset; adding datadescribing the location of the additional data to the entry associatedwith the first asset; and wherein the retrieving of the asset data forthe first asset includes detecting the dependence on the second asset,using the additional address and the catalog to determine the locationof the additional data, using the determined location to retrieve theadditional data, and returning the retrieved additional data to theexecuting application.
 11. The method of claim 9, including: receivingthe asset data for the first asset, the asset data describing associateddigital content within the application; and storing the asset datawithin one or more files within a location within the one or morememories or an additional memory.
 12. The method of claim 11, including:detecting a change in location of the one or more files from thelocation to a second location; and configuring the one or more computerprocessors to modify the location data within the catalog entry withdata describing the second location.
 13. A non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium including a set of instructions that,when executed by one or more computer processors, causes the one or morecomputer processors to perform operations comprising: creating a catalogentry within a catalog for a first asset, the catalog entry including atleast an address and location data, the address being a uniqueidentifier for the first asset and the location data being a descriptionof a location of the first asset; receiving a request from anapplication for asset data associated with the first asset, the requestincluding the address; using the address and the catalog entry todetermine the location data associated with the address; using thedetermined location data to retrieve the asset data at the determinedlocation; and returning the retrieved asset data to the application. 14.The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, whereinthe addressable asset module further configures the one or more computerprocessors to build an executable version of the application, theexecutable version including data pointing to the catalog.
 15. Thenon-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein thefirst asset depends on additional data from a second asset and wherebythe addressable asset module further configures the one or more computerprocessors to perform operations comprising: storing the additional datawithin one or more files within a location within one or more memories;adding an additional unique address for the second asset to the catalogentry associated with the first asset; and adding data describing thelocation of the additional data to the entry associated with the firstasset.
 16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim15, wherein retrieving the asset data for the first asset includesdetecting the dependence on the second asset, the operations furthercomprising: using the additional address and the catalog to determinethe location of the additional data; using the determined location toretrieve the additional data; and returning the retrieved additionaldata to the executing application.
 17. The non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the developerdevice is communicatively coupled to a server, wherein the serverincludes the catalog, the operations further comprising: sending therequest to the server; and receiving a response from the server thatincludes either a location for the requested data or the data itself.18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, theoperations further comprising: receiving the asset data for the firstasset, the asset data describing associated digital content within theapplication; and storing the asset data within one or more files withina location within the one or more memories or an additional memory. 19.The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 18, whereinthe storing of the asset includes creating an asset bundle for anexecutable version of the application, the asset bundle including aplurality of assets and associated asset data.
 20. The non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium of claim 18, the operations furthercomprising: detecting a change in location of the one or more files fromthe location to a second location; and configuring the one or morecomputer processors to modify the location data within the catalog entrywith data describing the second location.